Pneumatically operated pump



May 31', 1949. G. A. ROOD PNEUMATICALLY OPERATED PUMP Filed Jan. 12, 1946 INVENTOR.

HTTURNEK Patented May 31, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIiQE.

2,471,498 rNEUMa'moALLY OPERATED PUMP George A Rood; Los Angeles, Calif.

Application- January 1 2, 1946, Serial No. 640,872

11; This invention relates to a. device: actuated: and controlled by compressed air to: force water from submerged tanks and discharging the water in: a-

sub'stantially continuous stream at a higher eleva-tion.

It is the general object of my invention to provide a pumping device of the class referred to of. simple and: economical construction and entirely automatic: in its operation; To' this end, the invention resides in the combinations hereinafter described indetaill andillustrated in the:

accompanying drawings of which":

Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically the devices which combine'to form' the invention; and

Fig. 2' is a. detail view showing a modification of some parts oi the device and the way inwhich they may bearranged in relation" to'- each other so as to iorm an-operativeccmbinatiom A submerged tank is by a partition l divided into two compartments, 2,. 3. At the bottom of each compartment is aninlet valve 4, and a;

discharge pipe 6- rises; through the two compartments to the" position at which it is required" to discharge the water from the tank. The pipe 6 is at the bottom thereof made with an inlet from each compartment and check valves 1,8 are seated in these inlets: to prevent return flow into the two compartments.

Air under pressure from any convenient source flows through a conduit ID, a valve H, and a conduit l2 to the top of the compartment 3, thereby to force water from the compartment through the discharge pipe 6. It is to be noted that the pressure forces the valves 5 and 1 to close.

The valve II is of the four-Way type having in. addition to the passage [3, through which the air flows to the compartment 3', a second passage I4. The compartment 2 communicates through an opening at the top thereof, a conduit l5 and the passage I 4 with the atmosphere. The mechanism which will now be described is designed to turn the stem of this valve counterclockwise to connect the compartment 3 with the atmosphere and the compartment 2 with the compressed air conduit at the time the descending Water level within the compartment 3 approaches the valves 5 and 8. When so connected. it is found that the air pressure against the water within compartment .2 instantly closes valves 4 and 8 and causes the water therein to rise through the discharge pipe 6. And, as the compartment 3 now is in communication with the atmosphere, it is seen that water is free to enter through the valve 5 to Glaimsiv (Cl. 103238-) 2v refill the compartment; while the pressure withinchamber 2' maintains valve 1- closed.

A pipe 21] carries air under pressure through a passage 2i of a sm'a lle'rfour-way valve '22- and a pipe 23' to the bottom of'ari air cylinder 24; caus ing the piston 25" thereof to rise and, by means of the piston rod. 2'6; tosw'in'g a lever 21" onits fulcrum. Adjacent this lever is hung a bellcrank 28, one end of which by'a'link 2 9' is operatively connected with tl'ie lever 21. 0n the stems of the two four-way'valves' are secured arms 30, 3!- and a link 32" interconnects these arms for simultaneous movement. A cable or" chain 33 extends from this link over a pulley 34 of the bellcrank to one end'of a lever 3"5"an'd the latter is bya suitable means, such'as aspr'ingst', urging the lever to swing on its fulcrum in counterclockwise direction.

Upon careful examination of the connections just described it is seen that the upward move.- m'ent of the pistonjliiniparts clockwise rotation of the bellcrank Z'Bon its fulcrum to draw the cable 33 upward, thereby gradually to increase the tension of the spring" 38. This" movement continues until the piston approaches the upper end. of the cylinder 24, at which time the tension of the spring 36 becomes suflicient to overcome the inertia and iricticnal resistance of the valve stems and to" swing the lever 3.: on" its pivot; thereby to turn the stems counterclockwise.- In doing this, it is seen that the valve passage 3 is moved to connect the-air pipe orwitli'the upper end of the cylinder andthat at the same time communication is established from the bottom of the cylinder, through'the pipe 23 andpassage 2t;

' to the atmosphere.-

The piston now commences to move down-- ward; thereby'to return the'bell-crank' to its initial position; with: the result that the spring. 36. again is put under sufiicient tension to snap the valve stems back to their former position and so again to reverse the valves.

It is most important so to adjust the tension of the spring 36 that it will quickly reverse the valves at the propertime, and this may be doneby providing a series of notches 39 in the end of the lever and by moving the spring from notch to notch until the desired result is obtained.

In some cases, it may be found more convenient to substitute a counterweight 40 for the spring 36, as indicated in Fig. 2. The lever 4| may be similar to the lever 35, except that the end 4|a thereof on which the weight 40 is hung extends downward on the same side of the lever fulcrum that the upper end 4 lb is placed. In this manner, it is seen that the force exerted by the weight increases as the lever is caused to swing clockwise until sufficient to reverse the position of the valves. Instead of a single weight, it may be preferable to provide a series of weights, as shown, and the lever is made with a number of perforations 4 lo for additional adjustment of the parts.

From the foregoing description it should be apparent to anyone conversant with the art that I have provided a very simple and economical pneumatically operated device for delivering water from a submerged basin to a higher elevation in a substantially continuous stream.

I claim:

1. In a fluid pressure operated pump, the combination with a tank vertically divided into two chambers and having a water inlet passage to each chamber, a discharge pipe, an outlet passage from each chamber to said pipe, check valves in all of said passages preventing return flow therethrough and a conduit for pressure fluid, of a main valve having two positions, one for carrying pressure fluid to one chamber and the other for admitting pressure fluid to the other chamber, means alternately moving the valve back and forth to the two positions, a control valve having two positions, means interconnecting the two valves for simultaneous movement, a closed cylinder, pipes leading from the ends thereof to the said control valve, a power-controlled connection to said main valve, a piston within said cylinder extending to said connection, and a pipe from said pressure fluid conduit to carry pressure fluid from said control valve to one end of said cylinder or the other, thereby to move said piston gradually to increase the power of said connection until suflicient to throw said valves from one position into the other.

2. In a fluid pressure operated pump, the combination with a tank vertically divided into two chambers and having a water inlet passage to each chamber, a discharge pipe, an outlet passage from each chamber to said pipe, check valves in all of said passages preventing return flow therethrough, of a main valve, a conduit for pressure fluid from said valve to one chamber or the other, means alternately moving the valve back and forth to open a passage through one conduit or the other, said means comprising, a control value, an adjustable power-controlled connection to said two valves, and fluid pressure actuated means for gradually increasing the force exerted against said connection as-pressure fluid displaces the water within one chamber until suflicient power is generated to move the valves from one position into the other.

3. In a fluid pressure operated pump, the combination with a tank vertically divided into two chambers and having a water inlet passage to each chamber, a discharge pipe, an outlet passage from each chamber to said pipe, check valves in all of said passages preventing return flow therethrough, a conduit for pressure fluid, of a main valve having two positions, one for carrying pressure fluid to one chamber and the other for admitting pressure fluid to the other chamber, means alternately moving the valve back and forth to the two positions, a control valve having two positions, means interconnecting the two valves for simultaneous movement, a closed cylinder, pipes leading from the ends thereof to the said control valve, an adjustable power-controlled connection to both of said valves, a piston within said cylinder extending to said connection, and a pipe from said pressure fluid conduit to carry pressure fluid from said control valve to one end of said cylinder or the other, thereby to move said piston gradually to increase the power of said connection until sufficient to throw said valves from one position into the other.

4. In a fluid pressure operated pump, the combination with a tank vertically divided into two chambers, and having awater inlet passage to each chamber, a discharge pipe, an outlet passage from each chamber to said pipe, check valves in all of said passages preventing return flow therethrough and a conduit for pressure fluid, of a main valve having one position for carrying pressure fluid through said conduit to one chamber and another position for admitting pressure fluid to the other chamber, a control valve, means interconnecting the two valves for simultaneous movement, a lever, a flexible connection from said lever to the said valve interconnecting means, a power means urging movement of said lever in one direction, a closed cylinder, pipes from the end of said cylinder to said control valve, a piston in said cylinder extending to said lever, and a pipe from said pressure fluid conduit to carry fluid from said control valve to one end of said cylinder or the other thereby to move said piston gradually to increase the force exerted by said power means sufficiently to move the said lever to throw the valves from one position to the other.

GEO. A. ROOD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,262,665 Hedges Apr. 16, 1918 2,243,507 Naumann May 27, 1941 

